He was born at Woolloomooloo in Sydney to seaman John and Margaret (née McDonough) Birt, and educated by the Marist Brothers in Darlinghurst before working in a grocery and then in retail stores.
He was president of the Paddington Labour League, founded the Darlinghurst branch, and was a member of the executive from 1908 to 1910.
In 1919 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the Labor member for Paddington.
With the introduction of proportional representation in 1920 he became one of the members for Sydney, and served until his death at Darlinghurst in 1925.
This article about an Australian Labor Party member of the Parliament of New South Wales is a stub.